Closure
by Americangirl
Summary: Manny is finally getting her life in order. She's moved back to Toronto after college,has a good job, a new boyfriend, and a good realtionship w Emma. That is until her first love Craig Manning moves back into town. His reappearance will change everything
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** This story does contain some spoilers for all of the seasons-including small ones for season 5! I made up alot of parts so it is A.U. after Weddings, Parties, Anything. This is a future fic and the cast is now 24-25. This first chapter is just the prologue to set the stage for the real story which will contain dialouge as well as narration. I love reviews and will love you if you submit one! I haven't written in awhile but I do have severeal stories on ff. net. This story will contain a variety of characters including: Manny, Craig, Emma, Paige, Sean, and Ashley. I want to make this pretty realistic so I don't know if everyone will be in the story because at 24-25, you just don't see the same people that you did in high school! This story is mostly Craig/Manny based. Please enjoy! I will update soon!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Degrassi or any of its characters. I am simply using my imagination to further the plot in the way I see fit! Like so many of us, I wish I owned the wonderful Craig Manning...

**Prologue**

She was twenty four but felt more like thirteen. Looking back on it, thirteen was when her life changed. She wished she wasn't so much of a girl-that all of her memories were not tied to a boy-one boy. She wished her life had changed for some grander reason. People usually tied a great life change to graduations, deaths, births, etc. Instead, hers was linked forever to a boy changing schools.

Craig Manning. The name still sent a shiver of excitement up her spine. She had met him with Emma and had liked him instantly. But Emma had known him first and in eighth grade girl world-that was everything. Over time Craig would actually like her! It was odd. No one ever noticed background Manny. All eyes were on Emma-the pretty activist who made sure her voice was known. Manny just smiled and went along with everything, why did Craig ask her to dance?

But nothing was ever simple, and Craig had dumped her the day after their first date. Emma and Sean got back together, and Craig became a couple with Ashley. Manny was alone again and as insignificant as ever. That's when I changed physically, she thought, although psychologically she had changed the moment she met Craig. That was the moment her life became chaotic and all later changes could be tied back to falling for him.

She got noticed. A few tank tops, and tube tops got her to the top of the female hierarchy at Degrassi. She was hot and boys liked her! But even dating the popular Sully could not quiet her secret love for Craig. And then I got sneaky, Manny thought, wincing at the memory of what she had done to satisfy the hurt of seeing the one she loved loving someone else. He had cheated on Ashley and Manny let herself believe that he loved her. When she asked him to choose didn't he come back to her? He found her ice skating and he told her that he wanted her-that it always was her. But Ashley knew him well and with the gift of a guitar, Manny's heart was forgotten. Did Craig intend to string them both on forever? Neither Manny nor Ashley waited to find out-they both dumped him-only seconds apart from each other.

She had tried to purge Craig from her life after that, but one huge thing brought them together. A baby. Manny still thought about "her"-would it have been a girl? She somehow thought so. She remembered how Craig had wanted their child, he wanted to be with her. But when she realized that as a ninth grader she would never be able to give her baby the loving home she deserved, and had terminated the baby-her short lived relationship with Craig been terminated as well. He walked away with hatred towards Manny and went back to the perfect Ashley.

Life was normal then. Craig had his problems with Ashley-he was diagnosed bi-polar Manny had heard through the grape vine. But they had little contact. She dated J.T., and then Spinner. Both, although good guys, were unable to spark the same feelings in her. And still, although they rarely spoke, just a glimpse of Craig Manning made her slightly dizzy. She knew first loves died hard, and she did her best to occupy her time with other thoughts, but some nights it just seemed impossible to escape her dreams of "what if".

And then the fates brought them back together. Ashley had left him for England and another guy. Manny hated her for that-she never would have broken Craig's heart. And Manny had her own troubles, Peter had allowed the entire school to view her stupid drunken striptease. Manny hated herself too. Why was she so dumb? Why did she keep looking for love and validation in all of the wrong places?

But then he saved her. Not really of course. He said he wished he had saved her that night and scared Peter into leaving her alone. He tried to be her friend and even let her play with the band! Craig gave her hope again, at least that they could be friends. And when she expected nothing more from him, when she was sure that this was the best she could get, and was happy for it—he kissed her. And for once things felt like they might be right.

She had never been so happy as she had for those two months with Craig. They had no Ashley scowling at them, and no pregnancy scares. They simply had cuddling in his garage, band practice, movies on Friday nights, and after school time at the Dot. They were together, and although they seemed doomed from the start-their life was more problem free then any other couple at Degrassi.

For once, things felt even. Sure, Manny wanted to do all she could to take care of Craig, and make him happy. But like any good couple, Craig wanted to do the same for his girlfriend. He had fought his feelings for so long but now it felt good to have them out in the open. He knew Manny wouldn't hurt him, and after all of this time, he was finally man enough not to hurt her either.

But he did. He left. He had to she knew. And because she loved him so much she didn't even fight him on it. She let him go. It was the only time Manny could remember being truly unselfish. He had told her he loved her-that he always had. That dating her had been unsafe, and it took him awhile to allow himself to feel that vulnerable to someone, to put his heart on the line, but that it had been worth it. He told her that when he looked back on high school-the person he would see was her. Once again, he said those words, the same ones he said when he promised to leave Ashley for her—"It's you. It's always been you." And this time she belived him, even as he packed his guitar to move away for his music. Because she knew that the only thing that Craig could love more then a woman-any woman-was music. That was the way it was suppose to be at eighteen, you were suppose to live your dreams to the fullest and let old love go. So she wished him the best, and let him fly away.

They talked for awhile. Letters, and emails and a call or two. Craig was doing well. He was playing with a great band, and touring Canada. He was even going to the states for a few gigs! Eventually they talked less and less until they completely lost contact. Manny graduated the following year and left for college a few miles away. She lost contact with everyone then, except Emma who would always be her best friend.

After college, she returned to Toronto, though not the same neighborhood that she had grown up in. She got a job in a P.R. firm like she wanted. She still acted, here and there, but mostly just community theatre. She wanted a normal life now, and acting seemed as long forgotten as Spirit Squad practices, and Media Immersion class.

She dated, no one special though. Except Terence. She had met him in college and they had been together for three years before he left her. She was heart broken for while but in the end she knew that she had always had doubts. She never felt completely right with him, but she always just thought that was because she had be spoiled by her first love. That may seem funny. How could she have been spoiled when it had been nothing but problems and heart ache? Still, she felt spoiled because she had never in her life known anyone else who felt as much love for someone as she felt for Craig, and even two minutes with him felt like a special event—how could any new guy compete with that?

But now she had met someone nice-he was a friend of Emma's from her university. He had just moved from Nova Scotia to Toronto and he had instantly taken a liking to Manny. At first she had tried to categorize him as a friend, she was fresh of a break up with Terence, and although she found this new guy-Patrick-cute-he wasn't exactly her type. He was a year younger, and looked even younger. He had never really had a long term commitment to anyone, and he seemed more interested in fun then anything else. But over time, she changed her mind. Although he was young, he could be serious. He made her feel special. He looked at her as if she was someone very important, and as if , never in his life, had ever met a woman so beautiful, smart, and charming. She couldn't help but start to fall for him too.

In the beginning, their relationship was wonderful. He put her on a pedestal and Manny loved the attention after so much heart break. After a while, of course, that changed. The relationship was not so one sided. And Manny found herself not only in love with Patrick but clinging a bit to him too. Now when they fought, it was her who always broke the tense silence first, it was her who hugged him, and seeked forgiveness. Even when he was wrong, although she still told him she was upset, she was the one who smoothed things over first. She wanted him to live with her, for them to get engaged, anything to mark the finality in their commitment. She just didn't want to hurt ever again and she wanted to hang on to something real. She pushed doubts aside, and even once when they fought and he told her she "made him sick", she explained away the cruelty of the words. He was drinking, and was never mean! It was a mistake and when he showed up with a self made apology card, she melted. She knew their relationship had changed in the year they had dated and she was becoming dependent but aren't you suppose to depend on your boyfriend? Didn't he depend on her? She was sure he did. And he loved her. Everyone saw that. She was always told how he looked at her with eyes of love-so what was the problem? Everything was calm for once. That is until Emma saw **him**, unloading his things from a used Volvo and into Joey's house. He wasn't staying for a visit, he was back in Toronto for good.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Here's Chapter 1! It's alittle slow at first but the whole thing will pick up. And Craig is being alittle guarded about his return but the whole story will come out in the end.Another characterwill appear in the next chapter so things are going to get interesting! Please review! Thanks!

Emma was finally moving out of her mother's house. Her degree in ecology, though exactly what she wanted, did not exactly pay the bills. That is until, Caitlin offered her a position as a researcher for a new children's nature show she was producing. Caitlin had moved to behind the camera in the recent years, and Emma jumped at the chance.

It was because of this great job opportunity that she could now afford an apartment of her own, a few blocks away from her mother and Snake's house. She was so excited that she thought nothing could keep her mind off of her good fortune that Saturday as she loaded up a U-Haul Van and stopped by Joey's house for a used couch he had promised her. It was then that thoughts of independence and freedom had left her mind. It was then that she saw the long lost Craig Manning swinging a duffle bag over his arm and walking towards Joey's door.

She almost didn't get out of the van. What should she say to him? They had been friends for a while, but before his departure they had grown apart. The only thing really holding them together had been his relationship with Manny. Manny-her best friend-the woman who had loved Craig. She knew that Manny would be stunned to hear of his return.

"Hey there stranger!" a smiling Craig was leaning in Emma's open window.

"Oh, hey Craig! What in the world are you doing here?" Emma stammered shocked that she had been so lost in thought that she did not see him approach the van.

"I'm back Emma!" Craig widened his smile.

"For good? As in-forever?"

"Gee, don't sound so excited!" Craig pretended to look hurt, "What's this U-Haul for? Don't tell me I'm back and now your leaving Toronto."

"Not Toronto, just my mom's house. I rented an apartment on Bayberry Avenue." Emma's mind whirled with questions. Why was Craig back? What happened? Should she call Manny?

"Please tell me your not going to move all of this stuff by yourself."

"No, Manny and Patrick are meeting me here….." Emma froze. How could she have been so dumb? Manny and Patrick had agreed to help her move and had promised to meet her in…she looked at her watch…in just ten minutes!

"Great. I'll help too. Just let me throw this bag inside. I actually arrived last night but I was too tired to lug my junk in." Craig was talking a mile a minute now.

Is he nervous since I said Manny's name? Emma wondered.

They both walked inside and Joey and Caitlin greeted them. Craig helped her lift Joey's old couch into the U-Haul van, as Emma told him all about her new job. She told him how she had lost contact with everyone but Manny and she waited for him to ask about her but he didn't. He remained lost in thought and somewhat removed from the conversation. As they finished putting the couch in, Emma noticed a familiar car pull in behind them and she knew the drama was just about to begin.

"Hey guys!" Emma rushed to the driver's side of the car in the hopes of giving Manny some kind of warning before seeing Craig standing on the pavement.

"Hey Emma-ready to move into your own place?" Manny got out smiling as Patrick waved hello to Emma. They had been friends since college, and in fact Emma had introduced him to Manny.

"Craig's here!" Emma frantically whispered as Manny emerged from the car.

"What are you talking about?" Manny asked confused, this had to be some kind of weird joke.

"I think what she means is Craig moved back." Craig said stepping towards Manny and Emma with a puzzled Patrick watching from the sidewalk.

"I can see that. How are you?" Manny did her best to stay calm. She always got flustered in front of Craig Manning but after all of this time, she had finally learned to hide the butterflies now fluttering in her stomach.

"I'm good. The band broke up. The drummer got married, the bassist went to re-hab, and suddenly I realized I'm too old to hop around run down clubs, you know? So why not come back to my roots? Joey's house always treated me good." Craig was looking at her as if no one else was around them, their conversation, though completely public seemed private and intimate.

"Hi, I'm Patrick." The shorter, brown haired twenty-three year old interjected.

"Craig, this is my boyfriend Patrick. Patrick this is Craig Manning, a very old friend."

The two boys shook hands and Manny felt faint. Why was this happening? Why now? She had not seen Craig in seven years, and now he was back, smiling like nothing had changed. But so much had, Manny finally had a good relationship with someone that loved her, and her life had no room for complications.

"Craig's offered to help me move, so why don't you and Patrick follow behind us? It shouldn't take long now that we have four people," Emma was trying to sound cheery for her best friend. If she could just pretend like all of this was ok, then maybe magically it would actually become ok. Emma always was an optimist.

In fact, the rest of the day passed quickly. The two boys lugged most of the furniture inside Emma's apartment in silence. After all, what did two strangers have to say to each other? While Emma and Manny carried the lighter boxes. There was little time to talk and once everything was moved in, Manny and Patrick quickly excused themselves, saying they were too tired for the planned celebration dinner.

"I'll eat with you Em." Craig offered as they awkwardly waved goodbye to Manny and Patrick. Manny couldn't help but feel jealous. She wished it were her who got to sit on the hardwood floors with Craig and eat Chinese food out of white containers while sipping lager from green bottles. For a minute, she wanted to run back into Emma's apartment, put her arms around him and never let go. But she couldn't let herself get caught up in that again. It was exhausting and it never worked it out in the end.

"I love you hun," Patrick whispered in her ear as he kissed her softly, "you look tired so I'll drive"

"Thanks. I love you too." Manny kissed her boyfriend back and shook away her guilty thoughts.

Chapter 2: Emma and Craig get closer as he opens up more about his return, and who is Patrick's new co-worker?


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**: Thank you soooo much to my two reviewers! You guys rock! Please be kind and review! I appreciate it so much!

Queen Latifah-Missy Elliott14: There's alot of Patrick in this chapter so I hope you like it! Thanks for reviewing!

fluffymello: Yes I liked 505 even though I have heard alot of complaints. But as a Cranny shipper I loved the end! I am not going to give away the pairings in this story but like I said I think Cranny rocks! Thanks for the review!

**Chapter 2 **

It had been a week since Manny's life was turned inside out. One week since she time warped back to high school with just one glance at the attractive, brown haired love of her life. But she was doing her best to ignore this fact.

Her life was normal on the outside. She went to work, had dinner with Patrick, shopped with friends. But inside she was filled with questions. What did Craig want in Toronto? Did he want her? She had no idea. For all she knew, he had not thought about her in years. In fact, he could have been planning to avoid her althogether if Emma had not showed up at his doorstep last Saturday. She just didn't know. And she was too scared to call Emma and ask. If she did call Em then she was afraidthat she might have to admit to her best friend that deep down inside she did miss Craig Manning.

But just as a friend….she thought. They had been through a lot together and there was no reason why she couldn't miss Craig as a friend. That was healthy and only natural.

"Manny!" Patrick's shout from the open front door startled her out of her thoughts.

"In the kitchen! I'm making dinner!" It was unusual for Patrick to raise his voice. He had an extra key to her place and after work he usually quietly entered and snuck up behind her with a big hug, and soft kiss.

Something must be wrong, Manny thought, as her stomach dropped. Suddenly her boyfriend appeared in the kitchen doorframe with a deep frown across his face.

"Hi hun. How was work?" Manny braced herself for the worse. Patrick was rarely angry but when he was he could be so cold. He usually shut her out for hours, even days and she always worried he would leave her. I use to be strong, she though suddenly, until Craig and Terence left me. Now I just want somebody to stay. The thought scared her. What had she become? But I love him so much. Her thoughts were interrupted by Patrick.

"I can't believe you. I don't know what is going on…." Patrick was struggling to find the right words. He wasn't by nature a good communicator. Manny was the one who did most of the talking in the relationship, and Patrick usually nodded along silently. Sometimes she wondered if he really listened to her. But then, just when she thought he wasn't, he would say something insightful and she would realize that he was just quiet but completely attentive when it came to her.

"What is it? Did something happen at work?" Manny put down the spoon she was using to stir the sauce she was cooking on the stove, and walked over to her boyfriend.

"Pat, tell me what it is…" Manny tried to reach for his hand. If she could just hold it then she knew it truly wasn't that bad, but he quickly snatched it away and walked towards the bedroom with Manny following close behind.

Patrick began to grab a shirt and tie from the closet he shared with Manny. He spent most of his nights over her apartment though he had refused to officially move in. Manny had been hinting at the idea for months, but ultimately it was Patrick's decision if he wanted to leave his own apartment for hers. He told her it wasn't time yet, that he didn't want to rush things and spoil what they had but that someday soon it would happen. Manny wondered when.

"I need this shirt for tomorrow. I'm going to my place to think. I just don't want to be around you right now." Patrick's words were jumpy, and the coldness of them stung Manny.

"Pat-this isn't fair. You have to tell me what's going on!" Manny was desperate. She often felt like that when Pat and her fought. He was so good at just cutting himself off from his emotions and walking away from her while she was left to deal with the pain alone.

"CRAIG MANNING." He said the words with hatred and Manny knew instantly that he knew-he knew she had not been telling him everything, that she had left out huge gaps of her life from him and somehow someone had filled in those gaps.

"I told you- I've known him for a long time. He's Joey's son. You know Emma's mom's friend Joey. And we all use to be friends in high school. It was so long ago…." Manny didn't know where to start. How much should she reveal? For some reason she wanted to keep a piece of Craig and her secret from everyone-she wanted some of their memories to just be hers. Plus she knew that Patrick didn't like to hear about her past. He liked to believe that he was the only man she had ever truly loved, because she was the first woman he loved. To be fair, Manny hated to hear about his ex girlfriends and they were only one or two month relationships, how would she feel to learn about his first love?

"I know all about him. I know ever detail that you keep from me." Patrick turned to her with an icy glare, "I forgot to tell you that we got a new accountant last week. She's a real nice girl and I've been training her all week. I took her out to lunch to celebrate her training sessions being over today."

"That's nice…"Manny braced herself for the worse. She was puzzeled but she knew this story could not end well.

"Yes, it was nice. It was also interesting. I told her all about my lovely girlfriend and when I told her your name she just flipped! Apparently you two were old high school pals! You were spirit squad buddies. Well, actually she was the captain and didn't she kick you off the squad?"

Paige! How in the world had she managed to find her way back into Manny's life? Manny knew she stayed close to home and went to school in Toronto to study business. It figured that she would find her way into Patrick's accounting firm, it was one of the top firms in the country and Paige always wanted to be the best. But what did this have to do with Craig? Was Paige really so evil that she would spend one lunch filling in Patrick on every detail of Manny's mistakes? Luckily, Manny had already told Pat about the video tape disaster from Junior year. He had been upset but mostly at Peter and they had put that issue behind them. She was glad she had been honest.

"Paige. She and I weren't exactly tight. We kind of bumped heads a lot….she could be a real witch…"

"I thought she was really sweet." Patrick's words dripped with anger. He never said words like "sweet" unless they were for effect. In other words, Piage is sweet and I'm the devil, Manny thought.

"And I happened to mention that you had stayed in contact with Emma. And that just last weekend I had met another old friend of yours but that you really didn't seem too close to him. Paige of course wanted to know who it was and after calling him a few wrong names…Carl…Keith…Paige was shocked to hear that it was Craig. And even more shocked to hear that I thought you guys had little history. She filled me in on…EVERYHTING." Patrick shook his head in disguist, "it's not what happened in the past-it's that you didn't tell me. It's that you hid it from me even after we saw him! I was with that guy for over an hour and afterwards you didn't say a word. You lied to me when you said he was JUST an old FRIEND." Patrick moved towards the front door.

"Pat, I'm so sorry. It was all so long ago and I've moved on from it. I just thought there was no point in talking about it. It's not like we ever have to see him again." And at that moment Manny realized she would do anything to keep Patrick with her, to keep her heart whole, and not be left alone for a sleepless night of crying. She would even agree to never see Craig. She just needed Patrick to stay.

"I don't want to be near you. I don't want to listen to what you have to say. I want to be alone and far away from you." Patrick said the words clearer then any he had ever spoken "You make me sick right now." And with that he slammed the door behind him.

* * *

"Emma, I really think you would like my friend John. He plays the piano at this club downtown. I'm not usually into that stuff but he's great. Besides, what have you go to lose?" Craig had shown up spontaneously on Emma's doorstep that evening. They had been talking all week. Well, mostly Emma had done the talking. She realized that Craig was lonely now that he had returned after so long and he would call her or drop by just to have some company. But he rarely opened up about himself. So she had filled the gaps of silence by talking about her college days, old boyfriends, and her lack of a love life at present.

"Not tonight Craig. I'm beat from this new job. How about tomorrow? I promise I'll get all dressed up and we'll hit the town? But first…"

"Uh-oh. What evil bargain do I have to strike with you?" Craig jokingly asked as he and Emma sat on her couch.

"You have to tell me why you came back. I mean all the details of your past life!"

Craig rolled his eyes.

"That's so boring Em. I mean, I'm a washed up rock and roller at the old age of twenty five. Do you really need the gory details?"

Emma nodded, "No details. No piano bar!"

"Fine but only cause I'm desperate for a night out and you and John are my only Toronto friends so I'd be stoked to have us all hang out. Basically, after Downtown Sashquatch bombed in front of that agent, he asked me to join another new band in Montreal. I did as you know and I left Toronto behind. I got my G.E.D while on the road, and we toured everywhere. I mean, Canada, the U.S., and even Europe. But we never rose above mediocre fame. Let's face it, we weren't the next Rolling Stones. We settled in Cali for a while and had a steady local fan base that paid the bills. Then Roger, my bassist, got hooked on coke and he went to rehab. Lewis, our drummer, got hitched and took off for St. Louis. And the band just died. I didn't feel like searching around for another group of guys just to play the same tired clubs. So Joey told me to come home. And I did. It felt right. I missed it here. This is the only place I've felt at home in my life. Archie thinks he can get me into Degrassi as a music teacher as long as I start picking up some college credits next semester. So that's it…"

"Wow. Seven years condensed into two minutes." Emma smiled.

"I'm nothing if not concise."

Suddenly Emma's apartment phone began ringing.

"Let it ring. I'm too tired to talk…" Emma began looking through her DVD'S "What movie do you want to watch? I figure I'm not going to get rid of you anytime soon so we might as well watch a film." Emma teased.

"Eternal Sunshine." Craig suggested.

Emma raised an eyebrow, "You know that's Manny's favorite movie."

Craig coughed , "I didn't know that." He stammered and Emma was sure he did.

_It's Emma, leave a message_ Emma's machine's clicked on.

"Em, it's Manny please call me back. I'm pretty sure Pat and I are over. He knows about Craig. He said I make him sick and he can't be around me. Call me back."

Craig got up from the couch.

"I think I have to go…"

"I better call her back."

"Ok, yeah. You call Manny. I'll see you tomorrow…." Craig quickly opened the door.

"Invite her."

"Excuse me?"

Craig closed the door, "Invite Manny tomorrow, ok? Just say you will."

Emma nodded, "I will but I don't think she'll come. I mean her and Pat fight and…"

"Just invite her-that's all I ask Em." Craig's face was blank but Emma knew that it was hard for him to be begging her like this. Craig had issues when it came to women and it was hard for him to admit his feeling about anyone. This was a step of some kind but Emma just didn't know what it meant.

Either way she knew it was no use to argue.

"I will," she promised.

Chapter 3: What will a Saturday night out bring? And what big plans will Patrick suggest?


End file.
